A Pop-Up, a Fake FTC Agent and a Rental Car Full of Gold: New Hampshire Courier Gets 51 Months

On October 9, 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced that Raj Vinodchandra Patel, 34, of New Hampshire, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to 51 months in prison. Patel pleaded guilty on June 20, 2024, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

How it went down

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office:

• September 2023. An elderly resident of Alexandria, Louisiana, saw a pop-up on their computer telling them to call a computer "helpline."
• The helpline. That number was run by one of Patel's co-conspirators in India. The victim was told criminal activity had been seen on their computer.
• The fake fed. The victim was then transferred to a supposed special agent with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington, D.C. It was another co-conspirator in India.
• The story. The fake agent claimed the victim's Social Security number was compromised and their money was at risk. The only fix? Liquidate the bank account, buy gold bullion and hand it to "another federal agent" for safekeeping until the "federal investigation" was done.

There was no investigation. It was a scam to steal the victim's money.

Enter the courier

Patel's job was pickup. On October 7, 2023, he flew from Boston to New Orleans, rented a car and drove to the victim's home. The victim had been told to put the gold in the back seat of his rental.

But here's what Patel didn't know. The victim had already called the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The FBI set up a sting and recorded Patel picking up the package and driving off. Louisiana State Police troopers pulled him over and arrested him.

After his arrest, Patel admitted he'd flown to other places around the country for gold pickups from other elderly victims. He also admitted that while he was being stopped, he deleted the "WhatsApp Business" app from his phone to hide his communications with co-conspirators.

The intended loss was about $514,000.

FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil said Louisiana victims lost nearly $12 million to schemes like this one the year before, "and those are the people we know about."

Why should you care?

Look at how this started. Not a cold call. A pop-up with a phone number. The victim made the call.

That's how a lot of tech support fraud works now. The scammers get the victim to dial in. Then they hand them off to a "government agent." Then they send a courier.

And the people in the middle, the ones answering phones and driving rental cars, are the ones getting caught first.

What to do this week

• Tell your family: Microsoft, the FTC and the Social Security Administration don't put phone numbers in pop-ups.
• No federal agency takes gold for "safekeeping." Ever.
• If something feels off, call the FBI. This victim did, and it worked.
• Report it at IC3.gov or the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).

That's it. Trust your gut. It caught this guy.